Aston Martin V12 Speedster DBR1 specification is a pretty and expensive time machine
The original DBR1 remains Aston's most successful and beautiful racing car, even over 60 years after its debut.
The V12 Speedster DBR1 specification certainly captures the vibe of the legendary original racing car.
Aston Martin's DBR1 racing car of the late 1950s was not only highly successful -- it won Le Mans in '59 along with a bunch of other endurance races -- it's also arguably one of the most beautiful cars ever made. But the company only ever made five of them, so seeing one, let alone owning one, is unlikely.
Still, Aston Martin wants to bring a little of the DBR1's spirit to its forthcoming V12 Speedster model, and as such, it's offering a special historic DBR1 specification for that car. What exactly does that mean? As you'd expect with anything based on a British racing legend, you get lovely green paint and a big, white meatball graphic on the side, but that's just the start.
You also get the Aston Martin Clubsport-inspired "lipstick" around the grille, lots of costly and exquisitely worked leather from the likes of Conker. You also get a pair of specially painted green racing helmets stored under clear covers in the vehicle. The Aston Martin wings badges are made of solid silver and enameled to prevent tarnishing.
Green with a big, white meatball? Must be a British racing homage!
Being a modern Aston Martin, there's plenty of carbon fiber too, which is really the only beef I have with the whole DBR1 homage. Leather, textiles, wood and aluminum would all be lovely to look at and feel, as well as period-correct. If you're going to use carbon, hide it in this case. Still, I suspect I'll be in the minority where that's concerned.
As a Speedster, the V12 Speedster is utterly without a roof, much like the Ferrari Monza, McLaren Elva and Mercedes Stirling Moss. The car is powered by -- you guessed it -- a big turbocharged V12 engine that produces 690 horsepower and 555 pound-feet of torque. It's mated exclusively to a ZF eight-speed automatic transmission.
The automatic transmission is kind of a bummer. Still, it's understandable when you consider that Aston is only planning on making 88 examples of the Speedster anyway, so engineering a manual version would be costly and pointless.
Pricing has been left unspecified, but needless to say, it will be a lot. Orders are open now, and Aston Martin expects the cars to start reaching customers this summer.
